I have acquired a pair of Cinelli LA84 cow horn bars that have been rattle canned black. I'm concerned that paint stripper with damage the alloy bar thus requiring me to polish it to get that "I'm trying too hard to make these look like NOS" kind of finish. I would like to preserve the original Cinelli matte finish if possible.

The Cinelli LA 84 bars are clear anodised. You need to trial various strippers on a damaged or redundant set of anodised Cinelli bars to make sure it doesnt melt the anodising. Then try the successful product on an end of the LA84 handlebars that will eventually be covered by tape. Most strippers and thinners etc wont touch anodising, as anyone who has tried to strip anodising will attest.Also, most paint doesnt adhere well to good anodising, so the paint will not take much persuasion to come off with whatever thinners is appropriate to the type of paint.Definitely do not use wet and dry paper, as this will scratch the anodising beyond salvage, even if you are very carefull.If the anodising is damaged under the paint, the only way to get that 'matt finish' back will be to strip the anodising, and have them re-anodised. Or polish them and have the over-restored look.Warren

Chemical engineers have spent years perfecting paint strippers and there are plenty out there, for cheap and simple and effective try diggers from bunnings, yellow tin ( metheleyene chloride based) for oil based paint and the green tin for water based paints. a soft brush and a pressure washer will help

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